Clive Smith talked of Captain Christy, Pendil and The Dikler in the winner's enclosure here yesterday, names from a grand age of steeplechasing more than 30 years ago. "That was in 1974 and it was the first Gold Cup I saw," he said. "It left me dreaming that one day I might have a runner but I never thought I might own the winner."

Now he has that winner, after Kauto Star's near-faultless two-and-a-half length defeat of Exotic Dancer yesterday, and much more besides. There is the money - about £1.25m for Smith alone from prizes, bonuses and bets, plus another £300,000 for Paul Nicholls and Ruby Walsh, who trained and rode him, and the staff at Nicholls' West Country yard.

There is also the real belief that Kauto Star's victory marks the start of another great era for chasing, to match the one that fired Smith's enthusiasm half a lifetime ago.

The style of Kauto Star's victory was similar to Best Mate's first success here in 2002, in the ease with which he moved throughout the race and the precision of his jumping, at the first 21 of the 22 fences anyway. The last one, though, produced a less fluent clearance, just as it had in his last two starts, but nothing to match the almighty blunder at Newbury last month that persuaded many bookmakers that he was one to take on.

What Best Mate did not have, though, was an obvious cast of potential champions ready to challenge for his title 12 months later. Kauto Star is now favourite for next year's Gold Cup at around 2-1, a mark of the respect the bookies now have for him after he was gambled down to a starting price of 5-4 yesterday.

Close behind him in the betting, however, are two more of this week's winners, Denman and My Way De Solzen, on 5-1 and 10-1 respectively, while War Of Attrition, last year's Gold Cup winner, is a 9-1 chance to recover from a recent injury and win the race again.

Before Kauto Star had even been led out of the winner's enclosure yesterday, there was talk in the crowd around it of next year's renewal and its potential to be one of the great Gold Cups. If anything is to beat Kauto Star, however, they will need to find a weakness in a horse who cruises through the first two miles, can make ground on the bit on the downhill run, responds instantly to every demand from his jockey and has apparently forgotten how to lose.

"Maybe now everyone will believe that he's a superstar," Paul Nicholls said. "He was brilliant out there and the mistake at the last was only a minor one, he just had a lapse in concentration. I can get a bit annoyed when people criticise him and even this morning they were giving him some stick on [the] Racing UK [television channel].

"He's now won six races on the trot. What more can anyone want? It takes an exceptional horse to win a Tingle Creek [over two miles], a King George [over three] and then a Gold Cup [over three- and-a-quarter miles] in the same season and Kauto Star is exceptional."

Kauto Star will not race again this season and Nicholls' main problem in the autumn will be to plot a path to the Gold Cup for Kauto Star that does not cross that of his stable-mate Denman. "They will meet one day," Nicholls said, "but it won't be at Kempton [in the King George].

"I'd expect Denman to go to Leopardstown and leave Kauto Star for the King George but the one race I do want to win again with Kauto Star is the Tingle Creek. He's won it twice and I'd love to make it three."

Few of yesterday's opponents would stand much hope of reversing the form next year, when Kauto Star will still be only eight years old. Exotic Dancer ran as well as expected but did not have the necessary class to mount a serious challenge when Walsh kicked on with Kauto Star going to the second-last.

Turpin Green, a 100-1 outsider, was another two-and-a-half lengths away in third place, with Monkerhostin and Cane Brake finishing fourth and fifth.

"Once I got him settled it was just a matter of when I wanted to press the button," Walsh said. "I was worried for a second when I pulled off the rail and saw AP [McCoy on Exotic Dancer] go up there and I thought, what am I doing giving him a clear run, but it was all OK in the end. He pinged two out and it was time to go. This horse has done it over all the distances and he's a true champion."

All those connected with Kauto Star now have a sense of a journey that has ended, with more than £1m in the bank, and another that has just begun. One of the first people to congratulate Smith in the winner's enclosure yesterday was Jim Lewis, the owner of Best Mate. "You've still got two more to go," Lewis reminded him.

Totesport Gold Cup

First

Kauto Star

Jockey Ruby Walsh Trainer Paul Nicholls

Second

Exotic Dancer

Jockey Tony McCoy Trainer Jonjo O'Neill

Third

Turpin Green

Jockey Tony Dobbin Trainer Nicky Richards

Despite the quality of the competition that is likely to be arranged against him, Smith seemed quietly confident that Kauto Star will get there.